Welcome to the parlour!

A giddy feeling filled your chest, matching Misty's buzzing mood. Van passed sour patch kids around, everyone was so happy, so excited, you shared the gummies with Misty who was ecstatic.

You laugh as she shoves a handful into her mouth, you never thought Misty the creepy, the others dubbed her, was chill like that.

You didn't wear your seatbelt yet, kneeling up your seat and over to Jackie and Shauna behind you, you shook the pack to them as Jackie laughed and took it.

Your eyes flickered briefly to Shauna who was asleep.

That fast? You thought.

You bit the skin of your lips and sat back, clamping the seatbelt shut. You liked Shauna. You mean- liked watching her play, almost thirty percent on your gameplay was based on hers, you joined the sport the moment your foot stepped in highschool.

That time you only knew so much about soccer. They, aka Jackie, Shauna, Taissa, Charlotte, Van, and Laura Lee was tasked with teaching the freshies, aka you.

And Shauna was in charge with you and some other freshie. You nodded and shadowed beside her as she explained and showed the thingies to do.

And with time, sugar and spice and everything nice, you might as well compete in nationals

And you are!

And in a blink of an eye you were getting dragged out the plane, the screams were blurry, there was smoke everywhere, a curly blonde hair obscuring your face, you coughed and heaved as Misty placed you on the ground, shouting for Coach.

You blink into existence, the bunny your holding loafing in your arms.

"Are you alright?" Akilah's worried expression fills your sight, waving her hand in front of you. "Huh?"

"We need more filler for the bunnies side, they keep kicking them out of the pen," she gives you a pitiful smile, gesturing to the once grassy knoll turned soiled area.

A small smile carves its way on your face, you nod as you gently lowered the slumbering bunny. You pat your yourself, ridding of the dust on you and closed the pen's door behind you, bidding Akilah goodbye.

You helped Akilah with the animals, a cute little sanctuary she suggested and you happily took a shift with taking care of the litteluns. You also helped with cooking, especially when you first crashed, you and Mari taking turns cooking and preparing the meals.

The makeshift hays and fillers were by the outskirts of the camp so they wouldn't ruin the whole whimsy aesthetic, but anyways you pass the huts and out of the camp, your hands lightly brushing the growing grasses and flowers.

Suddenly you still, you arms stuck in the air beside you, kinda like a hug me state, still touching the grass, your eyes train on the bunny digging a small burrow.

Slowly, you lower yourself, approaching the animal with caution. The bunny was a calico color, the orange blacks and whites, you have got to bring it to Akilah, she'd be ecstatic with another cute little addition to the sanctuary.

You hold your breath as you extended your arms, cupping your hands together as it nears the bunny.

And with a little more scooching from you, a gasp escapes from your mouth as you bounce at the bunny, clamping your hands around its body.

You squeal and stand up, scanning the animal currently trying to escape from your arms.

"You're so cute." You beam, petting its head.

You cradle it in your arms as it immediately calms down from that retched position you had it earlier.

You bounce it as you turn your whole body in a hurry to get to Akilah.

You let out a yelp when you bump into a wall. The bunny in your arms suddenly jumping down and quickly disappearing among the mosses.

You frown and groan, rubbing your forehead.

"What was that?"

You didn't have to look at her to know it was Shauna. Your eyes widen in a slight, feet shiftig from one another as your eyes flick up to hers.

"A bunny," You say, almost teetering on a whisper. You try to hide your disappointment at the loss of the beautiful animal, you could still feel the pretty coat under your palms.

You shake your head as you flash her a rigid smile. "What are you doing here?"

Everyone knows Shauna and her new profound temper with everything, especially with Mari. They would always find something to fight about in the most petty ways possible. Like the time Mari coincidentally bumped into her when she was showing you some weird dance she came up of, some of the meat shauna was carrying fell to the ground and they started the usual session and not long after you'd have Nat and Tai pulling them away from eachother.

The spring melted the snow as well as her hidden anger issues.

She tilts her head, a ghost of a smirk adorning her face but it's gone as fast as it was there.

"Nothing. Why'd you wanna know?"

Your eyes widen as you stutter, hands fiddling with your sleeves.

"O-oh, uh. I should go," you move to pass her but she blocks you with her body. Your feet brakes in time before you crashed into her again.

You feel your cheeks heat as you slowly lifted your eyes to hers.

"Shauna?" You say, blinking confused. She stared at you with the same deadpan expression she has when she's on the chopping station. You uncomfortablely shift on your feet as you set the game of staring contest between the two of you.

Looking at her now, you probably kinda understand how the others are kinda scared of her.

You probably are now but the beating of your heart covers it entirely. Akilah told you she'd sometimes take some routes longer just to avoid the angry bird. You laughed and slapped her arm, cackling as the both of you kept eachother awake in your shared hut with confessions.

Your tongue points inside your cheeks as you break the staring contest first.

"A-akilah's probably waiting, I should go," the last few words were whispered. Thankfully she lets you pass, speed walking your way out of that awkward atmosphere, not bothering on looking back at the butcher.

You arrive back at the pen and find no Akilah, sighing you lock the gate closed and grab the makeshift basket. The camp could do some good laundry.

You visit their huts one by one, throwing their clothes inside the hamper. You reach Shauna's hut last, surprisingly, her hut was very clean of any debris or stray clothes, they were nearlt bunched up a corner, mostly stained with blood.

You purse your lips and knelt down to get them, trying to avoid touching the red. Goosebumps fill your body, you didn't know how you could do the butching, good thing you had Shauna, or the lot of you would be screwed.

You shut your eyes as bloody Shauna during her birth flashes in your mind. The cabin was wafting of warm blood, everyone panicking, Misty almost spiraling by the sink, you stood beside Akilah holding warm water and extra rags, pinching yourself from the blood.

A branch snapping outside the hut snapped you out of your thoughts. You immediately stand up and exited the shelter.

You were met by Gen who was carrying bunnies and squirrels on her belt. You give her a tight lip smile as she waves to your direction, your eyes follow her to Shauna.

Who was already looking at your direction. Oh wait no. She was looking at Gen, gesturing to the chopping station.

But..

You shake your head, adjusting the hamper on your hips and making your way for the stream.

🐝🔪

The dawn was already coming fast when you arrived at the camp.

"Finally!" Mari jogged to you, hooking her arms with yours and pulling you along with her.

Everyone was coming together at the center, the bonfire area you made together.

"What's the occasion?" You joke, whispering to Mari.

"Oh Nat called a meeting. No idea what's it about." She shrugs, the hamper still leaning on your hips.

Nat catches your eyes and she nods, she surveys the crowd before clearing her throat.

"Alright, some of you probably know what I'm going to talk about but for the others," she starts, Taissa right beside her along with Gen and Van. Your eyes catch on Shauna's, they follow down to her bloody arms and sleeves.

Laundry again tomorrow. You thought.

She's still wearing her butcher apron, not caring about the mess of guts on it. "As you all can see, I've started teaching Gen here,"

Gen bows dramatically, you burst out laughing with Mari who was cackling like this was the best comedy show ever aired.

"-how to hunt. And so far she's been doing great. And we've talked and decided that others would also benefit in learning other skills."

Taissa nods with her. You purse your lips and grip the hamper tighter.

"So!" Taissa clasps her hands loudly, stepping forward to the middle of the crowd. "What we'll do is, Nat is in charge of teaching you how to hunt. Me and Van, we'll be responsible with setting the traps. Misty and her first aid. And last but not the least, Butchering with Shauna."

Mari snorts beside you, covering her mouth. All eyes immediately train on her.

"Got something to say, Mari?" You feel your pulse in your fingertips as Shauna takes a step forward, her head tilting to the side, eyes narrowing and zeroing on Mari.

You pinch Mari as she bites her lip from laughing.

"Mari stop," you whisper, hoping it was only Mari who heard. She huffs and puffs, flipping her hair away.

"Nothing—"

You gasp as Shauna charges at Mari, the hamper falls immediately when you're pulled backwards away from the two.

Shauna grips Mari's shirt by the collar, shaking her.

"Shauna!" Taissa ever the first responder, trying to rip the butcher off of Mari, Nat follows and places herself between them, trying to seperate.

You gulp and hurriedly gripped Mari's shoulders, trying to pull her away.

"Shauna. Let go." Nat warns lowly, you wriggle Mari, trying to loosen Shauna's hold but she doesn't budge. The two barks insults at eachother.

Shauna raises a fist but Nat succesfully tears them open before it lands. A yelp escapes out of your mouth as you and Mari fall on your back.

You cough out Mari's hair, slapping her and her hair away.

"Shauna enough." Nat stands between her and the two of you on the ground. You huff and stumble as you stand up, dusting yourself.

They get into a stare off. Does that always happen with her? Before Shauna grunts and tuts away, claiming her spot amongst the crowd again.

You pick up the clothes and put them back in the hamper, scampering away when you finish.

Nat huffs loudly.

"Going back," she sighs. "You guys should probably choose what you wanna join now so we can start asap. If you still don't know what you're going to do in 5 then we'll choose for you."

The crowd burts into clamoring as they start discussing, even the leaders started going around and asking. Only Shauna stayed where she was, before you could meet her face, Mari pulls your attention back.

"I'm definitely not butchering with Shauna."

A small chuckle comes out of you as does she.

"Oh definitely. Or you might as well be dinner tomorrow," you cackle, she bursts into laughter, slapping your arm.

"I'm actually thinking about joining Van and Tai,"

You nod along with her as she yaps about what where why how she'll join them.

You fiddle with your sleeves, foot tapping on the ground impatiently, butchering is undoubtedly crossed out, wait no, ripped out of your list. Next out of your list in hunting. Either you'll be with Mari, or Misty's first aid.

Which...

You squint, Lottie and Akilah was surrounding Misty, your eyes flick to Tai and Van who had Mari and Travis. Nat was also talking with Gen and Robin.

You jerk away when a finger pokes your ribs. You clutch your side like a wounded soldier, the tickling sensation still there.

You didn't notice Shauna behind you, her hand comes back to hide in her pockets, the corner of her mouth tugs up, the toothpick wiggling in her mouth.

"S-shauna." You stammer, fumbling over your words. She tilts her head, eyes glinting as they settle comfortably on you.

"You choose anything, bambi?"

"I, uhm, not yet. Probably—"

You frown at the nickname, squinting at Shauna who was staring right ahead to Taissa who stepped forward.

"Alright! Let's count it! If a class has too much or too little we'll have to transfer some others!" Taissa announces, you hear some groans, especially Mari who was sending you wiggly eyebrows, aka code red.

You shrug, mouthing a 'what'.

"Okay perfect- then, oh yn where are you gonna be?"

You cough, clearing your throat. "You and Van,"

Tai frowns, nodding, but she's frowning, checking the makeshift clipboard, which was actually tree bark.

"Oh my gosh, I'm very sorry we're full with Robin and Trav. Maybe Nat—"

"She's with me." Shauna steps beside you, staring Tai down. Tai hesitates, her eyes dart between yours and Shauna's.

"I think she should be able to choose for herself yes?" Tai says, not bothering to pay Shauna a glance.

Everybody's eyes were on the three of you, others whispering. You shift on your feet uncomfortablely, you gulp and fiddle with your sleeves.

You feel Shauna's gaze burning on the side of your head but you pay her no mind.

Finally, you give a curt nod. Tai blinks, gripping the clipboard tighter.

"I-I should probably, uhm, yea." You point to Shauna beside you. Tai sighs, nodding.

"I'll be with Shauna too," You hear Melissa as she raises a hand up.

Relief passes by you as they all returned to their business. Tai going around the crowd.

When she finally finishes, she stands beside Nat.

"Ohkay, that would be it I guess. Meeting adjourned!"

You puff your cheeks, clasping your hands behind your back, you didn't move an inch from your place, and it seems Shauna was thinking of the same thing.

She pokes your side and you jerk away again, a small chuckle escapes her mouth. She spits the toothpick away and places her hands in her pockets again.

"See you, bambi."

The noise hadn’t changed.

The shouting, the clashing steel, the laughter—still loud, still alive.

But something in you had.

It felt like you’d been here for days.

Not minutes. Not hours.

Days.

You looked down at the paper bag in your hands like it might disappear if you blinked too long.

Then you looked to where you last saw Baelor's head disappear.

Your heart clenches.

You could shave your head and wear Valarr's armour, then fight on his stead.

Nah...

You don't even know how to ride a horse.

Right.

No horse.

No armour.

Nothing.

Your lips form a line, looking down on your paper, you slowly peel it open.

The smell hits you first.

So, so good.

It hot and fuming and ready to be devoured.

You shove it into your mouth.

For a moment, the world of westeros wasn't Westeros.

The sudden ache in your jaw when you first bite into the food made you close your eyes, the pain and satisfaction both a welcome sensation.

Every bite and swallow felt divine.

You can thank your beloved Baelor.

Then your eyes snap open.

Oh Baelor.

Your heart squeezes again.

You stare at the food on your hands.

Because what are you even supposed to do?

'Hi, Your Highness, big fan, by the way don’t enter a trial by combat soon because it ends horribly?'

Your appetite shrivels at the thought.

You'll be dragged by your hair and fed to carnivorous pigs. Or worse.

You sigh through your nose and take a bite of the food.

Think.

Think.

What do you actually know?

You glance around the meadow.

There's too many banners, too many swords, knights, tents, it's all so smothering.

Somewhere around all this.

Duncan is probably around here.

And egg.

A mop of white catches your eyes among the crowd.

Well there's only two people who's heads are white.

Oh you hope to see daddy Maekar at least once in this life.

You hurriedly shoved the rest of the food into your mouth and jogged while chewing rapidly, your eyes never leaving the white head in the crowd.

Oh goody! another dilf you'll meet today, you almost tripped in excitement.

You meekly follow 3 paces behind him, making sure you've got enough people to cover you but as the same time also enough so you don't lose him. Except you can't see him very well, only the back of his head and cloak.

That doesn't hinder you in observing him.

Yes, it's observing.

Certainly not stalking, duh.

Oh how you wish you could've spawned as one of their cup bearers, you would see to them everyday and every second when they dine.

Much like how Queen Rhaenyra did to her father in their early years.

You realise how near, well not super near, but sensibly near enough to the black queen's time.

If you would've appeared just a few, few more years before, you could've dropped a boulder on the hightowers and ensured Queen Rhaenyra's claim.

Oh wait, you could drop a boulder on Aerion like right now.

If only you could find one as big as the iron throne, you could care less if you get caught after dropping it.

Too caught on by your thoughts, you fail to notice the pillar incoming in front of you. You went in head first, you slam with a loud thud, and you stumbled back, clutching both the paper bag and your forehead.

"Ouchhh..." You groan, rubbing your surely red spotted forehead. "Huh... Where's everyone.."

You realize the noise was no more, the people that kept bumping and hitting wasn't there anymore, and most of all, it was only you and..

Oh goodness, did you lose Maekar.

You groan once again.

The smell of roasting meat and food was faint, you're much farther from wherever you came in.

But there was still tents and some uhh, chairs and tables here, not as crowded as the main areas. But there are no nobles, no knights, nothing.

You frown, this wouldn't be an abandoned camp right? The smoke from the campfire was still kinda there and the plates still had some leftovers in it.

You take a step back.

Are you.. Trespassing?!

Okay, breathe, no one's here... Yet.

You've got to make your feet quick and disappear before anyone sees you and throws you into a snake pit.

You turn abruptly to gain momentum but you hit another very very hard wall once again.

A wall that clattered like metal when you hit it.

This time, you stumbled and fell down on your butt, the man, as you discovered, didn't make any move to help you up or even look apologetic, he stood with his legs wide in front of you.

You rub your surely, surely battered forehead, you scowl, head whipping up to glare at the perpetrator.

"You!" You point at him. The sun flashes down on his head, making it impossible to see his face, you squint, with no intention to help you, you begrudgingly stood up by yourself, patting your clothes in anger.

"You impudent little hedge-creeper."

You still before the voice.

Oh you know who this is.

Oh... You know who this is..

You swore your legs trembled a bit.

You're actually petrified, if you were to choose between death by spikes and death by trial, you'd choose to just die right this instant.

His hand shoots out to grip your arm, you yelp as he drags you out of the sun.

Here, in the shade, you can clearly see the resemblance of him and his father. Clearly.

“Trailing someone above your station… careless. Did you truly think it would go unnoticed?” his bruising grip tightens even more that makes you think if he wants to cut off your circulation all together.

"P-prince—! I-I didn't know it was y-you," you whimpered.

“Didn’t know? Then you’re a fool. And fools don’t wander this far without reason. Speak—what were you after?”

His face was so close to yours, in this angle, you can see how beautiful the beautiful violet targaryen eyes were.

Aerion's was a deep violet, like those amythests they sell on ebay but even better.

When you gave him no answer he leans close even more.

"Cat got your tongue?" He clicks his teeth. "Or is your pretty little head deciding which lie to tell me?"

You stutter, mouth opening but no words comes out.

This is it, your dead, what could you possibly tell him.

'Yeah, I followed you around because I thought you were your father and because I'm hopelessly in love with him I just needed to get a look.'

Yeah you dead.

Wait no.

He waits for you answer, scarily not blinking as he starts a no-blinking contest.

"I-I.."

He raises an eyebrow, he's getting impatient.

“I see… d-dragons’ blood flow in your veins, and yet... it is not yet awake.”

That makes him falter, his grip weakening around your arm, oh you'll know it'll bruise later.

“It’s not gone,” you murmur, forcing yourself to hold his gaze for a second longer.

Please believe this, please believe this.

“Just… waiting for the right moment.”

“Waiting,” he echoes, studying you like something that doesn’t quite make sense.

“Strange thing for a stranger to see.”

You blink profusely.

"You are the blood of the dragon—" you pause, tryna find something that can stroke his overflowing ego. "Just like the great Daemon,"

That successfully combs his pride for he let's you go the second you said Daemon's name, a dangerous glint shines in his eyes.

You rub your tender arm, the sting from his hold still imprinted.

"Who are you?" He asks.

You gulp, you're at the end of your wits.

"S-someone who," you wrack your brain, fiddling with your sleeves. "Someone who.. admires fire, in all it's forms."

A ghost of a smirk touches his face but quickly dissipates.

Your heart hammers in its cage.

"I've a-always been fascinated by it, dragons, fire, valyria," you pause, his eyes snaps at yours at the mention of their old home. "I-I mean only in passing, stories really. I've never seen one up close, a dragon I mean,"

You thought about if you'll really say it, should you say it? Nah, or maybe...

YOLO.

"Until now."

You thought you saw flames dancing in his violet eyes.

It's not so bad to please a prince.

If it meant you'll get out of here alive and in one piece.

"Curiouser and curiouser," he hums.

"I-I have to take my leave, your highness. It was a pleasure meeting you." You bow and immediately turned and fast walked.

You feel his gaze burning at the back of your head.

Please don't call me back, I can't take this anymore.

“Do not stray too far! I have plans for you!"

You bite your cheeks as you successfully join the crowd.

No matter.

You can just run away from here.

Oh but Baelor.

You scratch your head, whatever can you even do.

You almost had a stroke just talking to Aerion.

You can feel your soul dissipating.

Then your eyes catches a bald, shiny head running around the crowd.

You've watched a total of 0 episodes for got, 3-4 episodes of hotd, and the 6 episodes of akotsk (for people that HAVE seen all of them, please forgive me, I have devastatingly not finished them all especially GOT and its very very abundance of seasons, and yes, I haven't read the books) before standing in front of the Ashford Meadow's entrance.

A sight you've only seen in front of a screen not long ago.

"Oh give me strength," you sigh, rubbing your nape before entering the archway.

Miraculously, your wearing not the clothes you had back then, or should you call it the future?

Nevermind, instead, you're wearing a dirtied and worn outfit, secured with a rope on your waist so you wouldn't look like a kid with a too big of a tunic on her

You suddenly remember egg and dunk in the inn.

A smal chuckle blurts out of you, causing few of the passerbys to look to your direction weirdly.

You bite the inside of your cheek.

Major freaking aura loss on day one.

You stomped your way among the crowds, your shoes barely protecting you from the mushy mud. You thought about how if you would've woken up like weeks early here then you would've ran straight to  King's Landing and held Baelor hostage till the lady Ashford's name day passed.

But no, you arrived on the day of her freaking birthday, you don't even know if the series is already starting around you without even knowing about it.

That was why you're marching into the festivities with no clear goal in mind.

You look around in awe as performers, knights, and lords alike co-exist in the same atmosphere, you see a squire patting a horse aggressively.

What didn't register to you until now was the stench.

Eugh.

You freeze in the middle of the path.

Disgusting.

You gag, quietly. Tears bundle up in your eyes as you cover half of your face in a crushing grip.

You're fine.

You went into a light jog to run away from the smell, who in the seven kingdoms smells THAT horrendous, you're scared.

You frown, turning your head behind you as a last resort to finding the source, you're actually terrified, what in the world.

That was until you ran straight into a wall.

You swear you felt the side of your face reverberate.

Then a hand caught unto your arms, steadying you before you trip backwards.

The man asks if you're alright.

Oh and you almost forgot, for some reason, you understand what they're saying to you without translation, for sure they're not speaking english but somehow your brain translates it like it's always been there your whole life.

Everyone around you seemed to form a good ol bubble around you to pass, not one of them meeting your eye, not even their robes and dresses touch you as they pass.

"Forgive me," he says again, lower and clearer as he lets go of you."Are you alright?"

Oh you recognize that streak of white hair in brown in this economy.

"I-I,"

You're dreaming, you're actually dreaming.

"You've gone pale, Miss. Did I hurt you?"

You blink into existence.

"Prince Valarr, I-I'm sorry, I should've seen you," you cast eyes down, then you realize you should probably bow, and so you did.

Albeit awkwardly, with half of your body tilted down to a perfect 90 degree angle.

"Miss," Valarr almost stutters, looking around that almost seemed like a call for help.

"You need not do so.” His hand hovers around you.

"Please forgive me, my prince," you bite your cheeks.

Just kill yourself why don't you.

After a beat, he answers.

"You need not worry yourself. There was no harm done,"

You hear a huff in his voice but you're too scared to look him in the eyes.

"You—"

"Prince!"

His head whips behind him.

You take a small peek at the voice but Valarr makes it hard to spot him.

"If you will excuse me," he says, turning back to you.

"Oh. Yes. Of course. Excuse you. I mean—” Silence.

Then immediate regret.

"I'msosorry,"

The corner of his mouth twitches before it quickly schools away.

He inclines his head, formal again.

"All is well."

Then he turns and leaves.

The crowd around you quickly replenishes the space again.

You're bumped, jostled, ignored.

Finally, when the back of his head disappears from your sight, you snap out of your reverie.

"He's so.." you mumble. Your mouth twitches to a grin.

Dreamy, hot, handsome, everything all in one.

You touch your arms, specifically where he held you When. You. Almost. Fell.

Your stomach does the summersalts. A giddy feeling threatens to burst out of you.

You force yourself to breathe and start walking again, determined to act like a normal person and not someone who just met a Targaryen and survived.

Then your belly rumbles.

As you passed by a stall grilling meat.

Ugh you'd kill for a doner kebab right now.

Your stomach growls again, louder this time, reminding you that you hadn’t eaten since like... forever.

You follow the smell of...

Well the smell of food.

It takes you to a very very much more crowded space, vendors yelling about orders.

Cooks cooking loudly.

Waitresses moving in lightning speed.

You spot a busy stall.

Super busy in fact that the laid out barbeque is left alone, people crowd the front of the stall, you don't see any staff from where you are, probably blind with the crowd covering them.

Your chance.

You feel guilty. Yet less than you probably should be, hunger is absolutely eating your organs right now

You stare at the food.

It should be long forgotten now should it? It's almost spoiled now at best, they'll only throw it to the dogs at the end of the day.

Why not just eat it now?

Your stomach rumbles yet again.

Your hands tingle as it reaches for the food.

You make sure your near enough that you can quickly snatch the food away. But far enough so they won't be suspicious of you.

Then a figure flanks beside you before you can reach it.

You snatch your hand away in milliseconds, looking down, you feel embarrassment creep up your face.

"One of these please," the figure, a man, points to the food you were about to take.

"And water if you may,"

"Coming right up!" The staff hands the hooded man his order. Your eyes follow as he drops coins unto the table.

The sight made you still.

The sigil.

The color of blood, a three headed dragon stares at you, it gleams from the sunlight directly hitting it.

Then, in a motion too smooth to be casual, he hands you the bag.

Your eyes flick up to the man, trying to peek up the hood.

"You are not in want of food?" He says, voice formal and gentle.

You blink profusely, you open your mouth but no words come out.

He tilts his head, letting the hood slip slightly, enough for you to see, but not for the throng of festival-goers around.

“Y-Your Highness!” you blurt, bowing quickly, eyes fixed on the ground.

Baelor Targaryen stands in all his glory in front of you, peoole didn't seem to recognize him, with all of them in a hurry to get somewhere and his clothes. Dirtied and muddied, his hood fraid at the seams, his shoes are soiled and used.

He lifts his head slightly, gentle eyes locking unto yours in an unhurried sense.

“Eyes and ears are everywhere. Speak carefully.”

You stutter, quickly nodding. Baelor reaches out, fingers brushing against yours as he takes your hand in his, he places the food in your grasp.

"That should do it." He says, voice calm and kind.

“The food tastes better when it’s yours to hold honestly,” he murmurs, hooded eyes on yours.

"I'm s-sorry," you tilt your head down, eyes casted on the ground.

"All is well." Your eyes flick up to him.

Just like his son.

You remember the Trial. Dunk holding him up from falling to the ground. His crushed skull.

You can't fathom how his death was looming over him, that days from now, he'll be on the ground cold.

You clench the paper bag.

He sees it, your eyes seemingly far away from your soul looking into his, like you're trying to find, or perhaps forget something by looking at him.

Curiouser and curiouser.

A beat goes and he speaks.

“My duties call; I must depart.” You snap out of your mind.

"O-Of course I— Thank you, uh, sir," you shift on your feet. "For everything,"

Your stomach grumbles once again, this time, physicsl enough that he heard it.

You pause, your eyes slowly lifting up to his, you see the faint twitch at the corner of his lips betrayed the hint of a smile.

Then as quickly as he arrived, he turns and leaves.

You gasp.

But he doesn't move.

Not a flinch.

Not a twitch.

Not even a subtle human change on his face when they get splashed by dirty water.

Then slowly, he looks down.

Blue eyes tracking the water flooding the pristine white floors.

Then, this is your dream, you slap a hand on your mouth and dramatically whisper:

"Shoot, I'm so sorry, Vecna Jr."

Good thing your hand was still covering your mouth or he would've seen a full blown Pennywise-before-eating-a-child-smile.

And ever so slowly, his gaze climbs back up to you.

Your breath hitches.

His eyes burrows a hole on youe face, they never leave for a blink nor a breath.

There's an eerie little pause of silence, then his mouth open.

".. You dropped something."

You nod aggressively. "Yeah. Yup. Totally. Dropped the plot."

"The..plot?"

"Yup. Lost it. Gone. Vanished. Like… hello? Why is my brain rendering you in 8K Ultra Terror Shader Mode?”

He just stares.

Not blinking.

Not moving.

Just watching you unravel like a rotisserie chicken on fast spin.

You hurriedly drop on your knees, because why not- ehem, anyways, grabbed a rag and began wiping the floor and his shoes.

Henry lifts his foot slightly, more confused than annoyed.

"You don't need to do that," he days, in an unsettlingly calm manner. "It's just water."

"No dude. Let me cook. My dream, my rules."

"... A dream?"

"Uh-huh. Cuz no way you're standing right in front of me looking like the love of my multiple lives and I have a mop." You shake your head.

His jaw tightens.

You let out a breath of hard work and stand up, wiping an imaginary sweat off your forehead.

His eyes flicker—barely, but you catch it.

Like he’s offended… or amused… or both.

Then he steps closer.

Too close.

Your brain blue-screens for a sec.

He leans down just slightly, voice barely above a whisper:

“I assure you… I am not a dream.”

You stare into his eyes and—because you cannot be normal—you say:

“That’s exactly what an eldritch sleep paralysis demon WOULD say.”

Henry just:

…

…

“…What?”

"Can I touch you?" A beat goes and he doesn't say anything, he still has the poker face on, you almost thought you broke your dream but he leans back, indicating, thankfully, that your dream bon voyages.

"I— I, mean, not in that way, I'm sorry, I meant, like—" you sigh and groan, you can now imagine the state of yourself if you ever meet Jamie.

And when you felt like the world was upper cutting you:

"Go on," your eyes snaps to his, a very faint smirk twitches on his face, though you don't notice, busy thinking of the new business opportunity that has presented itself to you.

You grin, then bite back a squeal, you point your finger and slowly, in suspense, began nearing him, like a horror movie edit.

"I can't believe this.." you gasp when your finger hits him. And like a kid in disknee land, you squeal and twirl like a maniac.

You actually dont care what you're doing, your in a dream, and there's actually no one who'll judge you, much less your husband in front of you.

"I'm gonna miss this— actually, you, when I wake up," you sigh closing your eyes. You surprisingly don't mind this whole thing ending yet, you'd like to stay here, a little more longer, beside your bootylicious soulmate.

"Ugh, please don't end yet," you clasp your hands together and clench your eyes close.

You must look like an idiot. An idiot in love. Haaa, oh how good this is.

Henry tilts his head in amusement. An anomaly...

An abnormality in this sterile place. Where did you come from? Who are you?

Silly, you're from janitorial services, he answers himself, his blue eyes catching on the name tag hanging out of balance.

Do you really work here? Like work, work. Maybe you're new, still not familiar with the.. things here.

He might've placed you on the company side of this building, but how did you even get here?

So far from the real world, far from the normal side of this place, he wants to know, to crawl inside your brain, know every little thing that twitches in there, the small corners that turn you, it must've been the years of being powerless gaining a toll on him, it must've been, he tries reaching into the back of his head, into everywhere in the void. Nothing.

He scratches the sleeve right above his tattoo, everything's so white, so bright, so sterile, the bleach hurts his head, it makes him nauseous, disgusted.

"You're not supposed to be here," he says, like a switch was turned.

He watches you snap your eyes open, he expects fesr covering your face, a stutter for a reply, but you shrug, almost trying to stop your laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, they're watching or something like that, can't we just skip to the good part?"

His jaw clenches, the ditzy act is getting annoying now. His eyes flicker to the red dot on the corner of the hallway then back to you.

"Who sent you?"

"Eh, I'm too tired for this," You giggle internally, you're literally living the wattpad fic right now bro. You chuckle and tap his shoulder, walking past him.

"I should probably go. I might—"

"Wait."

You roll your eyes playfully then turn back to him.

"Okay, but make it quick, momma's on the clock" you snicker, tapping on your imaginary watch.

"You—"

"Hey!" You whip your head behind you just in time to see the bulky guard that was on your floor once again.

"You should be finishing ypur assigned floors," he crosses his arms. " Janitorial staff are not allowed in this wing without clearance."

You scratch your scalp. Peter eyes the back of your head, his hands clasp behind him, chin moving up and shifting to that of his default orderly persona.

"I'm sorry—" you pause, why are you even sorry for? You chuckle inwardly.

"Oh no, not dream people enforcing rules in my dream..."

Isn't this where it's supposed to like... End? Like you know before disaster falls on you, like when you dream of falling but never dropping on the ground, or when your getting chased but you never get caught.

Bruh, you pinch yourself, then pinch yourself again, and again.

You groan.

"Wake me up!" You yell to the ceiling.

Then you feel someone's burning gaze behind you, you peek over your shoulder.

Henry tilts his head, frowning, ugh this disgustingly hot man.

You bite back a smile.

"Ehem— Dr. Brenner expects all personnel on schedule. No wandering. Now get yourself back to your floor."

You bite your inner cheek, this dream is getting wayyy too long and wayyy too real.

You touch your forehead, then pinch yourself again.

"Agh, okay, it hurts, it hurts," but you remember your mom saying you can't eat in dreams, but you often dream of eating food so like maybe pinching yourself in a dream to wake up is busted and definitely a myth.

You sigh and massage your forehead.

Everything is actually suffocating.

You feel your socks getting wet, the water from the bucket seeping in your cheap shoes.

You grimace, looking down.

"Uhm, I'm actually supposed to be waking up right nowww soo..."

You smile awkwardly, the guard frowns at you, his arms crossng tightee, probably the dream people wondering why you were breaking character.

"As much as I loved spending time with daddy vecna jr," you glance behind you, winking at Henry then immediately cringing at yourself.

".. I'm out—" you pivot your heel, your exit ticket out of this blessing and curse of a dream. But the floor has other plans, your very much cheap cloth shoes slips on the floor, your rag falling with a squelch, mop harshly slamming on the floor, echoing the whole hallway, you land hastily on your butt, your head makes a bam on the ground.

For a second you thought you were waking up which is weird because it should've been as simple as a flick of a hand and you'd be face to face with your tv screen, but instead, bright lights welcome you with open arms, the toxic flourescent sears your eyes.

You see the guard hovering above you, wait, was there two guards earlier? Did he call for backup? Ugh.

Your head hurts.

Your eyes are drooping, ugh, they're very heavy aren't they?

You close your eyes, you'll wake up.

Huh, yeah, you will, uhh, you just need— need a few.. seconds.. to, uhm, close your eyes, let them rest for, for a bit.

Of course. A certain Mr. Whatsit edits.

You grin, a giddy burst of excitement rises up your stomach. It's been what, 3 years since you last saw a fresh, new Henry edit and boy the throat is PARCHED.

You quickly grabbed your phone and opened tiktok.

Then everything explodes white, your ears ring as the corners of your eyes crinkle, your surroundings blur, well you can't really see clearly, everything's white, ringing, haze.

You don't know if you're standing up or sitting down, everything is on slomo, you clutch your head in your hands, crouching on your feet to find some, any kind footing, your legs feel like they're going to drop any second.

A groan emits from your mouth.

You feel a hand on your shoulder, you ignore it and focus on trying to expelliarmus your migraine, then it shakes you, when you don't respond, it shakes you even harder.

Then you hear your name being called, albeit weak, your ears were still ringing, like it's trying to find the right channel to channel itself in.

"Hey," the word is much more audible when they shake you again. "Darling, you alright?"

You turn to your left to see a woman, she looked to be in her late forties, warm brown eyes, and faint smile lines on the corners of her mouth, she held your shoulder in suxh a worry, you forgot she was talking to you.

"I-I'm sorry..?"

"Don't tell me your done, darling?" She laughs, her voice had a lilting, british rhythm, clean, crisp, qnd warm.

"Done? I.. what.." you clutch your forehead, its pounding and pounding, your eyes feel like they're gonna pop out at any moment.

"This floor's not close to done, I'm headed downstairs, you have to finish this floor if you wanna get out early, love." She clicks her tongue, but in a good, amused way. She taps your shoulder and walks away with her broom and cloth. "Oh, don't forget, the doctor wants the break room cleaned!"

She waves up at you without turning to you once, you hesitantly waved back she starts disappearing from your line of vision.

The lights overhead flickers, your headache spikes, you massage your forehead.

"Where am I.."

Your not in your room.

No posters.

No tiktok.

No tv.

No nothing.

Where the freakalishious..

Instead:

You're in a blindingly bright hallway, surrounded with white tiles and bleach scented floors. Everything's too sterile. Too quiet. With your bucket??? And a name tag on your shirt??

You pluck it off your self.

Hawkins National Laboratory- JANITORIAL SERVICES

Employee: [name]

General Personnel

Your blood runs cold.

What..

You shivee visibly, a cold chill running past you.

The hairs on your body prickles, you look around, no one, exceot for the occasional sounds travelling axross the hallways.

Nonetheless, your alone. Lo and alone, you highkwy wished the woman comes back, darn it.

You shake your head, no, you're at home, on your couch, watching stranger things, and you fell asleep. Yes. That's it, you were far too tired, but you wanted to finish season 5 because duh its stranger things, so you fell asleep, you still might be holding the remote on your hand, drooling on youe face.

You chuckle. You're a genius, and on the other, you're dreaming, and you know you're dreaming, you touch your forehead, whoa that's too much information.

A tap on your shoulder sends you howling.

"Woah, woah, I'm sorry," he raises his hands up, probably tryna show he was friendly but his built structure-a-bob somewhat says otherwise.

"I don't know if you're new or something but you have got to start doin' your job any time soon, lady." He gestures to the cameras. You get the cue and nod, you start cautiously mopping the floor. This is a very weird dream, why mop a perfectly clean floor?

Amidst mopping, you start pinching yourself, the dream should end like any time now right? You've been here goodness knows how long and your arms are starting to ache and your back is on borderline arthritis.

You sniff and wipe your nose, and what the crap are you even supposed to be mopping huh? You glance at the guard behind you, he looks like a robot, or those royal guards who stays like a statue till the end of their shift, then you glance at the elevator.

Isn't this supposed to be your dream? You can damn do anything you want, you palce the mop insife it's house and drag them inside the already opened elevator which you already pressed earlier.

Ugh, no elevator song-a-bob? What kinda dream of yours is this? This dream is not worthy to even be called yours.

You tap on your shoes, you watch as the elevator passes the numbers decreasingly till it stops on the 3rd floor.

You internally yelp as hordes of people enter the room, you're squished between your mop and a person, all busy in their conversations.

They don't seem to notice you, which is especially suspicious when you're wearing a uniform so much different than theirs.

You notice they're all wearing the same clinical white top and pants, and a kinda creepy black belt and shoes, so bland, you roll your eyes.

"Yeah, one of 'em almost killed the smaller one, poor kids, no wonder Tess quit,"

"Nah, heard they killed 'er too,"

"Shut your damn pie hole, man. She quit cuz them kids and the damn doctor were insufferable."

You look around, nobody seems to hear them, you frown, you're in a hospital? So are they all nurses and doctors here? But that doesn't explain the bad fashion at all, you surmise, the elevator dings open then they all rush out, bringing you out with them too.

"Excuse me— sorry— I need to—" You grip on your mop and cleaning materials, lion king stampede?

You groan when the elevator dings close, the staff around you disperses in their seperate ways, along with the three who gave you very useful information.

You look around, now where are you..

You suddenly feel cold.. and nervous, you look around you once again. No one. A chill creeps up on you again. You have got to wake up.

You pinch yourself, hard-hard. Nothing.

You let out a breath of sheer coldness, you swear you saw fog coming out of your mouth because of how cold the floor was.

You spun on your heel, about to take the next elevator when you bump into a brick wall.

What the—